


Take a Hint

by TheRealCinnamom



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cat Cafe, Cat Cafe is a front for a hitman business run by kenma, Cat cafe AU, Flirting, Fluff, Hitman AU, Hitman Kenma, Hitman Yaku, M/M, Mentions of Murder, Model Lev, Murder for Hire, Please let me know if I need to add any tags, Public Undressing, Sex Insinuations, Strip Search, Suspense, Swearing, Yaku Week 2020, coffee shop AU, pat down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:27:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25794355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRealCinnamom/pseuds/TheRealCinnamom
Summary: Lev is a new regular at Nekoma Cafe, and Yaku is the cashier that catches his eye- or did Lev already have his eye on Yaku before they even met?
Relationships: Haiba Lev & Yaku Morisuke, Haiba Lev/Yaku Morisuke
Comments: 12
Kudos: 81
Collections: Yaku Week 2020 Collection





	Take a Hint

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution for Day 1 of [Yaku Week 2020](https://twitter.com/YakuBday2020)!  
> Prompts: Cats + Coffee Shop
> 
> I'm super tired rn so please point out any obvious grammar/spelling mistakes if you see any 🤧💕
> 
> **Final TWs: swearing, public undressing, strip search, insinuations of sex, mentions of murder/hitman activity**

Another yawn left Yaku’s mouth, but he didn’t bother bringing up a hand to stifle it this time. He laid his head down on the counter with a sigh and closed his eyes.

“I told you not to work last night.” Yaku sat up straight at hearing Kenma’s voice. “Kuroo said he would take care of them for you until this is over.”

Yaku turned in his chair to face him, chose his words carefully. “Yeah, well, Kuroo’s messy; you wouldn’t seriously choose _his_ work over mine, would you?”

Kenma didn’t say anything, looked past Yaku just before the bell above the front door jingled. Yaku followed his boss’ gaze and smiled at the shop’s newest regular while at the same time, Kenma leaned in close and lowered his voice to just below a whisper.

“If it starts to interfere with _this_ , I will.”

Yaku didn’t react to Kenma’s unvoiced threat, simply held his smile and greeted the cat cafe’s first customer of the day. “Good morning, Lev.”

“Morning, Yaku!” Lev smiled, leaned against the opposite side of the counter. “Tired?”

Yaku ignored Kenma’s eyes on him and chuckled. “A little- our espresso machine is still broken, are you fine with regular coffee again?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Did the repair guy cancel yesterday then?”

“Mhmm...” Yaku hummed as he tapped away on the screen. “Apparently, there was too much traffic yesterday evening so he’s coming by today. You can swipe whenever.” Yaku turned the tablet stand around, stepped away to pour Lev’s coffee.

Yaku hummed again at whatever comment left Lev’s mouth, more interested in wherever Kenma wandered off to. It wasn’t like his boss didn’t trust him, but Yaku was surprised that he didn’t want to keep a close eye on their guest personally.

If Lev really _was_ onto them, maybe Kenma thought it’d be too suspicious- having two pairs of eyes on the model at all times.

They were already tracking every move he made on his laptop as soon as he connected to the free wifi. Nothing ever popped up as out of the ordinary, but they still haven’t had a chance to get into his phone. If there was anything that could confirm Lev knew where the real funding behind Nekoma Cafe came from, that’s where they would find it.

Yaku just needed to think of a way to distract the man long enough to get them that chance.

“Here you are,” Yaku placed the cup of coffee on the counter, “and the cats should start roaming around in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, Yaku!”

Yaku replied with a smile and handed the model his receipt, watched out of the corner of his eye as Lev made his way to his usual booth.

The first few months he’d started coming here, it was chaotic. The cafe was booked out for weeks at a time since everyone was trying to schedule their visits in hopes they would be there at the same time as Lev.

It was so busy that, for the first time since they had opened, Yaku was pulled away from his hitman duties _completely_ and, honestly, he was a bit annoyed. In just twenty-four hours he had to go from a killing stealth machine to a smiling service worker.

But, at the end of the day, Yaku was loyal. He would do anything for his family.

Even if it meant acting like he really cared about Lev and his daily woes about being a famous model.

A flash of light caught Yaku’s attention, followed by a quiet swear. Yaku figured it’d be more troublesome to play dumb and pretend he didn’t notice so, instead, he let out a long sigh and didn’t look up from his phone.

“If you wanted a picture of me, you could just ask.”

“I’m sorry.” Lev’s voice carried over to him. “I guess that's a bit hypocritical of me, isn’t it...? Sorry.”

Yaku looked over at him, forced a smile. “It’s alright. What do you want my picture for anyway?”

Lev’s face turned beet red. “Uh, nothing!” Yaku raised an eyebrow. “I just... um...”

The cafe was empty, which wasn’t unusual seeing as it was still early, so Yaku wondered why Lev was so embarrassed. He pocketed his phone and the entire walk over to Lev’s table, the model didn’t say another word. Yaku sat opposite to him, slowly closed the lid of the model’s laptop.

“You _what_?” He asked with a slight tilt of his head.

Lev moved a hand to the back of his neck, broke eye contact in favor of watching the front door. “I, uh... I mentioned you to my friend and he asked for a picture.”

“Yeah? What, did you mention there was a cute cat cafe employee or something?” Yaku lightly kicked Lev’s leg under the table.

“... something like that.”

“Really?”

“Yaku, can you help me with something, please?”

Kenma’s voice wiped the smile clear from Yaku’s face, and cut off whatever response Lev had managed to think of. Yaku left the table with a simple ‘yeah, sure’ and tried to pass off his nervousness as curiosity. He followed Kenma into the hallway adjacent to Lev’s table, and almost didn’t catch what the man said at how soft he spoke.

“You’re letting your guard down.”

“I’m not.”

Yaku knew better than to argue with him, but it had slipped out before he could stop himself. He looked down when Kenma glanced at him over his shoulder.

“I don’t care if you sleep with him, just don’t let your feelings interfere with anything.”

Yaku didn’t see the point in trying to deny it again. He pushed down his embarrassment as confusion took over, frowned when Kenma opened the door leading to where the older cats were housed outside business hours.

“Why are we-”

“I _do_ need your help with something.” Kenma picked up their oldest feline resident, who meowed loudly in annoyance. “Strawberry won’t let me clip her nails and they’re too sharp. I don’t want to talk to any upset parents again who choose not to supervise their kids properly...”

Yaku let out a short laugh before taking the nail clippers from Kenma’s outstretched hand. Strawberry purred when Yaku gave a few scratches to her chin, before letting out a low growl when he held her front paw.

“She’s cranky today.”

Kenma hummed in agreement and Yaku continued to clip the cat’s nails in silence. Well, as silent as it could be all things considered.

Yaku ignored the other cats as they bumped against his legs and tried to jump into his lap, focused on what Kenma said a few minutes ago.

It wasn’t unusual for Yaku to get defensive, but this time, it felt different. It felt... personal.

He’d been flirting with Lev for months now.

At first, it was just to get close to him and find out what he knew- _if_ he even knew anything at all. Yaku had no idea when the butterflies started. He had no idea when he started looking forward to seeing him; when he started remembering how Lev liked his coffee, and what time he usually asked for refills.

Yaku was only sure about one thing.

Kenma was right.

He _was_ letting his guard down.

“I’m sorry.”

The apology took Kenma by surprise and Yaku couldn’t help a small laugh at his friend’s wide-eyed expression. A light blush formed on Kenma’s cheeks, followed quickly by a frown. He tucked a few loose strands of hair behind his ear and looked back down at Strawberry.

“... just... be careful, Yaku.”

“I will.”

The rest of Yaku’s morning continued uneventfully.

All of their reservations were arriving on time, save for one family that blamed their tardiness on rush hour traffic, and the repairman for the espresso machine finally arrived in the afternoon.

Yaku knew it was a good thing, since he would soon not have to deal with upset customers, but he was still annoyed. The man’s equipment was taking up most of the walk-space behind the counter and, seeing as there was usually only enough room for one person as it was, Yaku had no choice.

He lifted the flip-up counter with a frown and when he looked up, saw Lev gesturing for him to come over. Yaku accepted the model’s invitation with a smile; tried not to think about what Kenma would have to say about it.

In contrast to their earlier back-and-forth, Yaku decided to sit next to Lev this time. He leaned into the man’s personal space and, when he was met with no objection, looked at the man’s laptop screen.

“What are you always workin’ on, anyway?”

Yaku already knew the answer thanks to their surveillance, but to his surprise, Lev turned the laptop so he could see better. “Just emails... photoshoot details and brand deals and stuff... it’s kinda boring.”

Yaku hummed as he leaned away. “Don’t you have an assistant to do all this stuff?”

“I did, but they didn’t do that good of a job- not that they were _bad_ at their job, I just didn’t like how they did things, I guess would be a better way of phrasing it.” Lev straightened the laptop and continued typing into the current email he was working on.

One of the cats jumped into Yaku’s lap and he looked down to find Strawberry staring back at him. She meowed loudly and he cooed at her before lifting a hand to scratch her chin. When Yaku pulled his hand away, it was replaced with Lev’s seconds after and Yaku was suddenly reminded of their size difference. Even just sitting next to him, the top of Yaku’s head only reached Lev’s shoulder.

Before he could spend too much time thinking about how big _other_ parts of him must be, a hiss sounded out. It was quickly followed by a _fwap_ and Yaku looked down to see Strawberry giving Lev a second _fwap_ to the back of his hand.

“Strawberry, I thought you liked me...” Lev withdrew his hand, and Yaku laughed as he guided the fluffy cat to jump down off his lap.

“She’s just in a bad mood today, we don’t know why.” Yaku reached for Lev’s hand. “She didn’t scratch you, did she?”

“N-no, I’m okay.”

Yaku pretended to study Lev’s hand for claw marks anyway, already knowing he wouldn’t find any. He rubbed his thumb over Lev’s knuckles and let go with a smile.

“Looks like you’ll live.”

Lev smiled and gave a short nod before looking back at his computer screen. Yaku loved how easy it was to make the man blush. He leaned on the table, the palm of his hand against his cheek.

“Are you busy after six?” Yaku laughed at how quickly Lev turned his head to stare at him. “ _Yes_ , I like you too, you fucking dork. Are you busy?”

“N-no, I’m not! You like- you like me too? But, how did you- was I really that obvious...?” Lev brought his elbows to the table and held his face in his hands.

“I mean, you’ve only been staring at me for months now, what other reason would you have to be so obsessed with me?” Yaku slowly moved his hand to cover Lev’s thigh.

Lev tensed, and Yaku wasn’t sure if it was because of his words or his actions. The model peeked between his fingers and then eyed the rest of the cafe. Lev was the only patron in the main room, all the others were well out of ear shot so Yaku spoke freely.

“That _is_ why you’ve been watching me... right, Lev?” Yaku’s tone shifted and Lev’s reaction was all he needed. “Who are you working with?”

Lev’s eyes widened. “Huh? No, that’s-”

“The police know better than to interfere with us, so... who are you working with, Lev?” Yaku tightened his grip on the model’s thigh.

“No, I’m not working with anyone, I swear. I-” Lev cut himself off to glance around the room again.

“You have thirty seconds until my boss comes in and asks you to come to the back room... _where you won’t be leaving_.” Yaku added, and Lev looked back at him.

The model was absolutely _terrified_ now. All color had left his face and he stared at Yaku, eyes wide and lips pursed into a thin line.

“Twenty-five... twenty-four...” Lev’s voice was so quiet that even being right next to him, Yaku couldn’t hear what he said. “You need to speak up, Lev.”

“I wanted to...”

The man’s voice trailed off at the end, but Yaku heard him loud and clear that time. He withdrew his hand from Lev’s thigh.

“You wanted to hire us?” Lev nodded and Yaku sighed. “You’re still going to have to be more specific.”

Lev groaned, let his head hit the back of the booth. He scanned the room for a third time before looking back at Yaku. His fear had lessened, and he looked focused now. Determined, even.

“If-if I’m wrong, and... if I _heard_ wrong, and this is just a misunderstanding, I’ll pay you to be quiet... but, um... I wanted to hire you... to take care of someone for me...?”

Yaku had to take a few seconds to process what he was hearing.

Lev Haiba, world-famous model and up-and-coming actor, wanted to hire a _hitman_?

This _had_ to be a set up.

Yaku moved to his feet and Lev stared up at him like a lost puppy. He almost felt sorry for him.

Yaku frowned.

He _did_ feel sorry for him.

Yaku’s attention shifted to the hallway when he heard faint footsteps, looked back at Lev a few seconds after.

“Follow me.”

“I don’t want to die, I’m sorry, I’ll leave- I won’t tell any-”

Yaku resisted the urge to laugh, lowered his voice. “We’re not going to kill you, dumbass. Just... follow me.”

Lev visibly swallowed before getting to his feet and Yaku didn’t look back as he approached the hallway. He locked eyes with Kenma as soon as he rounded the corner, but the latter refocused his gaze above Yaku’s head when a pair of footsteps came to a stop behind him.

No words were exchanged as Kenma stepped aside, back now pressed against the wall. Yaku continued down the hallway with Lev following him and Kenma close behind. It was silent as the trio entered Kenma’s office and as soon as the door closed, Yaku reached for Lev’s shirt to start unbuttoning it.

A pair of large hands wrapped around Yaku’s wrists. “Wh-what are you-”

“Trust me.”

Yaku looked up at Lev, and thankfully that was all the reassurance he needed. The model let go, and Yaku returned to pulling Lev’s shirt out of his slacks. Once it was free, Yaku ran his hands over the fabric to feel for any wires.

Yaku didn’t realize Kenma had left his spot by the door until he saw him walk behind Lev, and took a seat at his desk. Yaku returned his focus to the buttons on Lev’s shirt, but maintained a speed fast enough to where Kenma, hopefully, wouldn’t voice any complaints.

Lev appeared happy to co-operate, and Yaku took a step back to give him room to slide the shirt off his arms. Yaku fought the urge to stare at the model’s chiseled chest and abs as he continued the pat-down, and was pleased when there was no hidden microphone to be found. He looked to Kenma for approval, but was met with a cold stare.

“His pants too.”

Yaku returned his attention to Lev and initiated Kenma’s request by checking his pockets. He opened his wallet to find a few hundred in cash, along with various forms of ID. Yaku placed them on Kenma’s desk and when he turned back around, saw Lev taking off his belt.

The model handed it to Yaku and the latter made an effort to continue avoiding eye contact with him. Yaku briefly inspected the belt for any hidden compartments before placing it on the desk next to the leather wallet.

It was quiet as Lev toed off his designer shoes and dropped his slacks to the floor soon after. Yaku approached him and bit his tongue to keep himself from apologizing when he began thoroughly checking Lev’s underwear for any weapons or wires, hoped that it was sufficient enough to where Kenma wouldn’t ask Lev to undress completely.

Yaku took a single step away from Lev, clasped his arms behind his back as he faced his boss. “He’s clean.”

He made sure to keep both his voice and face void of any emotion, just like he was trained to. As hot as Lev was, Yaku was a professional first. He had to keep it together. If all went well, he’d see Lev in the same state of dress later tonight.

“How did you find us?” Kenma asked, finally leaned forward to pick up Lev’s wallet.

“I, uh... do you know Akaashi? Keiji?”

“Yes.”

“He, um... he mentioned that- I was talking about, um... _you know_ , and he told me to come here and ask for Yaku-” Lev side-eyed him for a moment, but immediately looked back to Kenma when the hitman didn’t acknowledge the mention, “-that he was really good at, um... getting rid of people- can I put my clothes back on? It’s kind of cold in h-”

“No. He told you that we kill people?” Kenma didn’t look up as he spoke, dumped out the contents of Lev’s wallet onto the table.

Yaku watched out of the corner of his eyes as Lev hugged himself, immediately looked away when his eyes started to wander. He straightened his posture when he noticed Kenma had caught him.

_Fuck._

“N-no- well, he didn’t say that _exactly._ I just... I said that I wished someone- at the _time,_ I was joking, but... I wished that someone was, uh... dead, so that they’d stop harassing my sister, and that’s when he... when he said that. That he’s had Yaku take care of-”

“Stop.”

Lev listened, and Yaku heard him take a deep breath in when Kenma’s eyes shifted to him.

The model didn’t move a muscle. Yaku didn’t dare to either.

Kenma was scary, but he was also considerate... when he wanted to be.

“You can get dressed now.” Lev immediately reached down to pull up his slacks and Yaku bit his tongue again, this time to keep himself from laughing. “What’s your sister’s name?”

“Alisa Haiba... sir?”

This time, Yaku couldn’t hold back at the look of pure disgust on Kenma’s face. Yaku turned his head and covered his mouth, but a laugh still bubbled out.

“Don’t call me that.”

“Sorry.”

Kenma sighed and, still frowning, pulled out his phone. “... who’s the guy that’s bothering her?”

“Tooru Oikawa.”

By the time Lev was fully dressed again, Kenma had finished typing. He looked up at Yaku and the latter obeyed his unspoken request to come closer. Yaku watched the screen of his phone and as soon as he registered who Kenma was texting, a photo popped up in the chat. Kenma leaned onto his desk again and showed Lev his phone screen.

“This him?” The model nodded after a few moments of thought, and Kenma returned to texting Shibayama. “We only take cash and you pay in full, up front. We’ll have a quote for you in a few days, Yaku will let you know.”

Lev blinked. “Wait, is... is that really it?”

“Were you expecting something else?” Kenma glanced up from his screen and Lev’s eyes widened as he shook his head.

“No, I just... it seems so... easy, I guess?”

“Yeah, well...” Kenma returned his attention to his phone with a shrug. “You still have to act normal and everything... Yaku can walk you through it after your date tonight.”

Yaku blushed, spoke before Lev could embarrass them further. “Thanks, Kenma.”

Thankfully, Lev got the hint. He kept his mouth shut as he followed Yaku out of Kenma’s office. Faint video game noises were heard coming from the main room and when they entered, Yaku made eye contact with Fukunaga who was sitting in front of Lev’s laptop.

He wore a slightly amused expression, but Yaku ignored it in favor of giving him a thank you. Fukunaga simply gave a short nod in reply before leaving the table, quietly retreating back to cafe’s surveillance room with his Nintendo Switch in hand.

Yaku shifted his gaze to Lev, who had returned to his original seat at the table. The model stared up at him attentively, but Yaku waited for the door near Kenma’s office to close before he spoke.

“Were you actually interested or was it just for-”

“Yes!” Lev said loudly, then cleared his throat. He was blushing hard when he repeated his answer at a regular volume. “Yeah, sorry... um, I am. You’re... really cute.”

The corner of Yaku’s mouth turned up and he leaned against the table. “You just hired me to kill someone and you think I’m _cute_?”

The model looked at his laptop and shrugged. “Well...”

Yaku’s smile grew, and he looked forward to counting how many times he could make the other man blush in under an hour.

“You’re pretty cute yourself.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! Kudos and comments make my heart go wee woo and inspire me to keep writing!! 
> 
> Support fic writers! [Consider a like/RT if you enjoyed](https://twitter.com/therealcinnamom/status/1292281680296845312)


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